Ink-well.



R. P. TOMPKINS.

INK WELL.

APPLICATION FILED N017. 15,1913.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

lnvezgtor: Fa/209 P fizz viz!!! v dition until entirelyused.

UNITED strATEs PATENT ser es.

HONEY P. TOMPKINS, or moou'rvsauou, NEW YORK INK- LL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.'8, 1914-.

Application-filed November 15, i913. Serial No. 801,121.

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known 'that'I, RONEY P. TOMPKINS, a citizen of the United States of America,

and residing at MounFVernon, in the" countyof \Vestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful "Improvements in Ink-Tells, of which. the

wherein the inkat the .dip is always maintained at the same height automatically, irrespective of the size of the reservoir or bottle. 7

- Afurther object isto maintain an original bottle in substantially sealed condition whereby the ink remains in its original-confurther object is to. so connect with the-well as to preclude the possibilty of contamination by-dust, dirt, and the like which gathers at the necks of bottles from which ink-well reservoirs are filled at present.

A further object is to so construct the well as to positively prev nt spilling ink in the event of the well being upset accidentally or tilted intentionally; and further objects are to provide such wells which maintain an ample supply of-ink in a readily accessible position, .which are thoroughly practieal and may be made "ery ornamental, and which are comparatively inexpensive My invention is fully set forth in the following specification, of which the accom pauying drawings form a part, in which the separate parts are designated by the same reference characters in each of the views, and in which Figure l is a vertical, longitudinal, section taken centrally through an inkwell constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line b of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail showing a result; Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a bottle puncturing pin which I employ;

the bottle Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5 5: of

Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an end view of the head of said pin and Fig. '7 is a top view of the cap which I provide for the bottles to be used with my ink-well. r

In the drawings forming a part of this application I. have .showna present preferred form of my ink-well, comprising a base a having an inverted bell-shaped member b thereon and a circular member a provided with a. screw-threaded recess cat the I bottom of which is a spiral groove a ter-' mina-ting in a circular recess a atits inner end and at its outer end in a longitudinally arranged-groove a in turn terminating in the dip-well a beneath the central openingofthe bell b through which the pen is passed for inking. The serew-threadof-the recess a is adapted to engage the-threaded cap 03 of a bottled, said cap being per fora'ted, preferablv centrally, as shown at a! and being provided with the usual cork or other washer rlttherei'n but this washer is not punctured when the bottle. is. filled .or

offered for sale, and. as shown. I may-provide arecess dlat the bottom of the' bottle for use as a receptacle for'pins, paper clips, a sponge, or the like. and I- may-also eor rugate or dentate the. edge of this receptacle, as shown at d to serve as a'pen holder.

Seated in the recess a is a pine which is grooved longitudinally, as shown at e andslotted at the lower end to form spring tines 0- to frict oually engage the wall ofsaid recess, said lower end being enlarged to fo m shoulder e. which is flush \v th the floor of the recess c and I provide a Washer e hich rests against said shoulder and upon the floor-of the recess and is of substantially the same diameteras said recessJand it will be noted that the rece a is of much greater depththan that of the spiral groove. said groo e, .as well as the groove 0. ha ing an indl ned floor leading toward the dip-well a this being clearly shown in Fig. 2. and the reason for which will be later explained? In practice, the filled bottle al just as purchased, is inverted and the pin-e forced through the perforation d of the bottle cap and through the washer d therein and into the bottle and. when the screw-thread of the bottle cap is engaged by the thread of the recess 0 the bottle is rotated to screw the bottle can into said recess until the cap bears upon the asher e and an airtigh and dust-proof connection results between the bottle and the base a, with the pin within the bottle and the ink free to flow through the groove 6 to the spiral groove a and thence to'the dip-well, care being taken to have the groove a register with the inner end'of the spiral groove a, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and In this flow of ink air passes to the bottle to replace the ink being removed until the ink reaches a level equal to the lower surface of the wall dividing the members b and c at which time no air may pass to the bottle because of the air-seal thus formed, and the flow of ink ceases but as soon as this ink level is lowered, through use of evaporation, air again enters the bottle until this level is again attained, and an automatic ink supply results in the degree of use or evaporationand the ink in the dipwell is maintained at a fixed level at all times. .If the ink-well should be upset the ink in the dip-well is prevented from escaping therefrom because of the interior capacity of the bell b andino ink may escape from the bottle because of the air-lockv formed by the spiral groove a, this airlock being clearly shown in Fig. 8, and my inkwell is, therefore, immune from ink spilling under all conditions, and it is in order to positively insure sucliimmunity that I form the spiral groove a of relatively slight depth for it will be observed, by reference to the broken line inFig. 1, that if the inkwell he tilted on its dip-well end, the level of ink does not reach a. point below the 'under side of the wall between the membersjb and c and the air-seal at this point iigis maintained and no air may-enter the bottle. If the spiral groove were of a depth.

be beneath the wall between the members b t and c and the bottle would be emptied and the ink flow from theink-well, but this is overcome by decreasing the spiral groove depth to maintain the airseal.

While I have shown one form of confor bottle connection therewith, or as to the 7 formation of the puncturing pin 6, as many changes in and modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages, my invention, as hereinafter claimed, consisting primarily of an ink-well having means permitting the use of an ink-bottle as purchased as the ink reservoir, as also of a bottle formed to permit such use, and means for preventing the spilling of ink should the well be upset in connection with the maintenance, automatically, of a fixed. ink level.

Vith such reservatidns to myself, What 1 claim as new, and desire to secure by.Let/ ters Patent, is

1. An ink-well comprising a base pro-. vided with a screw-threaded recess having a horizontal bottom and a groove formed.

beneath said recess and in said bottom. and having a portion thereof on each side of the central, vertical, plane of the ink-well, said base having a dip-well and a groove connecting the same with saidfirst named groove, a ,reservoir detachably mounted in said recess, and a channeled pin projected into said reservoir and the channel ofwhich connects with the inner end of said first named groove. 7

2. An ink-well, comprising a base provided with a screw-threaded recess having a horizontal bottom having a spirally formed groove therein and beneath the same, a portion of said spiral groove being arranged on each side of the central, vertical, plane of said ink-Well, saidbase having a dipwell and a groove connected with said first named groove, a reservoir detachably' mounted in said recess, and a channeled pin projected into said reservoir, the channel whereof connects with the inner end of said spiral.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of the subscribing witnesses this eleventh day of November 1913,

RONEY P. TOMPKINS.

Witnesses-z WILLIAM S. COFFEY, J AMES Rnar. 

